SALT LAKE CITY – Without two of the players who propelled the Lakers to their first victory in weeks just three nights earlier, it was easy to envision another lopsided loss Wednesday.

Playing against the surging Utah Jazz, the Lakers fell behind by double digits early and did not lead until the fourth quarter. But they overcame late miscues to beat the Jazz 100-97 and win back-to-back games for the first time since December.

LOS ANGELES – Byron Scott’s first game coaching the Lakers against the hated Celtics was an unmitigated disaster. The Lakers were embarrassed at TD Garden in December, losing by 17 points. It led Scott to revamp his lineup, moving Carlos Boozer and Jeremy Lin to the bench.

Round 2 was Sunday, and Scott said before the game that he would love to beat the Celtics, “probably more than any other team in the league.”

EL SEGUNDO – The days of the Lakers building a roster to satisfy the needs, and complement the style, of Kobe Bryant are gone.

Just three years removed from the blockbuster summer that brought Steve Nash and Dwight Howard to Los Angeles, one of the Lakers’ top basketball executives said circumstances have dictated that the organization change course.

“This team primarily has been Kobe’s team now for almost 18 or 20 years,” General Manager Mitch Kupchak said in a wide-ranging interview with ...

EL SEGUNDO – Mitch Kupchak came to the defense of his boss, Jim Buss, saying Friday that the Lakers top executive has not commandeered all basketball-related decisions, as recently alleged by Magic Johnson.

Nothing has changed under the leadership of Buss from when his father, Dr. Jerry Buss, was alive, Kupchak said.

“I have the same authority that I had with Dr. Buss,” Kupchak said. “Jerry West had the same authority with Dr. Buss and I’ve got that same authority with Jimmy. ...

LOS ANGELES – At the end of one half, the Lakers were nursing a one-point lead, and the most optimistic observer might have begun to wonder if the team was turning the page from its dreadful losing streak before the All-Star Break.

Then the Brooklyn Nets rolled in the second half to a 114-105 win, handing the Lakers (13-41) their seventh straight loss and 16th in 17 games.

But this was no ordinary loss. The dilapidated mansion has basements left to explore.

EL SEGUNDO - As one of the busiest trade deadlines in memory passed, all was quiet around the Lakers.

Lacking assets to pull off a major move, and unwilling to compromise financial flexibility or sacrifice draft picks, the Lakers roster remained intact amid one of the worst seasons in franchise history.

EL SEGUNDO – The All-Star Weekend was really a full week, and Byron Scott spent the bulk of it in Mexico, honing his golf game and tuning out basketball news. But by the time he returned to Los Angeles this week, just days before Thursday’s noon trade deadline, Lakers chatter was tough to miss.

Notoriously tight-lipped, Scott said he knew nothing about the Lakers’ intentions. But not even the first-year Lakers coach could deny entertaining thoughts of imagining certain players streaking ...